Mindy Lou Arnett, 21, vanished on August 14, 2002, after visiting her infant daughter Jersey at a sister’s home in Flint. Mindy had been living with her parents in Stockbridge, taking psychiatric medication, attending parenting classes and visiting Jersey as she worked to regain custody. Family and published accounts note prior substance abuse, a suicide attempt earlier in 2002, and prior statements about harming herself and her child.

Mindy’s 1992 Honda Civic Del Sol was found abandoned around 2:00 a.m. on August 15 on the Mackinac Bridge, roughly 200 feet above the Straits of Mackinac. Investigators say the vehicle had been driven across the bridge, turned around, briefly entered I-75, then returned and was parked in a northbound lane. A motorist later reported seeing a car matching Mindy’s and a woman reaching into the back. Inside were Mindy’s purse and keys, Jersey’s empty car seat, a diaper bag and a half-empty bottle; neither mother nor child were found after searches of the straits.

Authorities have concluded Mindy likely jumped from the bridge with her daughter, but without recovered bodies a definitive answer remains elusive. Did anyone in St. Ignace or along the I-75 corridor see Mindy or her car that evening?